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Ossett’s 19 Rolls of Honour
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On 4th August 1914 Great Britain declared war on the German Empire. 100 years later in 2014 Ossett was about to recognise that moment in history and the effect it had on the town and its people. It was also a challenge. A challenge to identify the Ossett men who fell in The Great War 1914-1918 (WWI) and to write their biographies to inform this and future generations of the sacrifices they made for future generations. As it turned out it led to much more than was ever contemplated but that’s another story.
The search for the lives and deaths of these men began with a list of 230 names recorded in the 1928 Unveiling and Dedication Programme issued by Ossett Borough Council for the unveiling of the Memorial on Sunday 11th November 1928. We were helped immensely by Ossett Library and especially librarian Mrs. Dorothy Wainwright who had collected and captured volumes of cuttings from the Ossett Observer which recorded the sad deaths of so many brave men.
We were helped too when we discovered another eighteen Ossett rolls of honour established in the 1920’s by churches, societies, employers and so on. Our final sources of information came from The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and the UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914- 1919 published in 1921 by HMSO for the War Office.
The distillation of all these sources of information has left us (so far) with a total death toll of 319 Ossett Fallen in WWI and 90 in WW2. Of this total of 409 Ossett Fallen, 402 were engraved at the war memorial in 2018 and another seven were added in 2019. The names of these men and women are now all included at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Biographies, many updated in 2021, for all the Ossett Fallen can be seen on this Ossett Heritage website at the sections Ossett in WWI and Ossett in WW2. Databases bearing a single line of information for each of the fallen in WWI and for WW2 can be downloaded too. These Databases created by the owner of this website serve as the Ossett Heritage Roll of Honour. They will inform the reader of the name of each of the Fallen and each memorial or roll of honour on which they were remembered. In this way descendants of the Fallen can see here or visit those Ossett Memorials or rolls of honour to pay their respects. Where some rolls of honour no longer exist these databases are now the only record of the names of those men and women whose names were once honoured there.
These updated biographies and the Ossett Heritage Roll of Honour contain information which tells much about the lives of the Ossett Fallen, from birth to death. It will show that their lives were, more often than not, chaotic and their deaths premature. It will show that they loved and were loved. It will show that they would be missed by mothers, fathers and often by a great many siblings. Wives, children and grandchildren would grow old without knowing what we now experience thanks to their dedication, bravery and sacrifice. These men deserve never to be forgotten.
There follows the only updated and full description of each of these Ossett Rolls of Honour and Memorials. Where possible the text is supported with an image of each of the Ossett Memorials/ Rolls of Honour which were erected by Ossett’s churches, chapels and other organisations to remember the men and women who lost their lives in WWI & WW2.
Updated by Alan Howe for ossettheritage.co.uk October 2021.
Ossett’s War Memorial was unveiled on the 11th November 1928, exactly ten years after the WW1 Armistice was signed. The Memorial was granted Grade II listed status on May 6th 1988. It is one of almost twenty Ossett Memorials, some in the form of Rolls of Honour, dedicated to the memory of those brave Ossett men who lost their lives. Some of the Rolls of Honour refer only to those who died but several record all of those who served with His Majesty’s Forces.
Until November 2018 there were generic inscriptions on the Ossett War Memorial first unveiled on 11th November 1928, but no names of those who fell in WWI & WW2. In January 2018 a proposal was submitted to and agreed by WMDC for granite Memorial stones to be laid around the base of the War Memorial. Each of the memorial stones are engraved with tributes and the names of the Ossett men and women, The Ossett Fallen, who lost their lives in WWI and WW2. More can be read about the Ossett War Memorial at https://ossettheritage.co.uk/local-history/war-memorial/
The Unveiling and Dedication of the South Ossett Parish Memorial took place on Sunday, 29th October 1922. The Memorial takes the form of a vast oak cross a symbol of Life laid down. The cross rises from a cairn of rough stones and is surrounded by a plot of green sward about eight yards square, protected by stone pillars and metal chains, with a stone tablet in the middle of the front. This tablet is shown above and contains the names of 92 Ossett men, including one man, Harry Beetham, who is not included in the 1928 Unveiling and Dedication Programme for the unveiling of the Ossett War Memorial. All of these 92 men are now engraved at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place. South Ossett Parish also created a Roll of Honour(see below) which is in the possession of Ossett Library and, until recently (April 2016) displayed on the wall of the first floor meeting room at the Station Road location. The Roll of Honour (below) shows the name, rank, regiment (and often the battalion), date of death and the address of the same 92 Ossett men. It also includes the name of one man, James Erly, who is not included on the above Memorial or the 1928 Programme for the Unveiling and dedication of the Ossett War Memorial unveiled in 1928. The engraved names of these men, including James Erly are now recorded by their names at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
This Holy Trinity WWI Roll of Honour is located inside the Church and bears the names of 105 Ossett men, including one man, Willie Giggal, who is not included on the Borough’s 1928 Unveiling and Dedication Programme. Willie is remembered at the Ossett War Memorial. The WW2 Roll of Honour (see below) remembers twenty one Ossett Fallen in the 1939-1945 conflict.
In the Church Graveyard the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) commemorates twenty Ossett Fallen, comprising eleven WWI men (seven with CWGC Headstones & four family headstones*) and nine WW2 men (seven with CWGC headstones & two family headstones*) All of these twenty men died in the UK. Of these eleven WWI men, nine are remembered on the Church Roll of Honour and two are not (Harry Swallow & Irvin Hinchliffe). Of these nine WW2 men only one man (Colin Aveyard) is included on the Church Roll of Honour.
* except in certain circumstances CWGC do not have authority to replace a family headstone with a CWGC headstone)
The church graveyard contains another fourteen Ossett Fallen, seven of whom fell in foreign lands and are CWGC commemorated there; these men are also remembered at Holy Trinity by family memorials. The other seven men are buried at Holy Trinity; one is a civilian commemorated elsewhere in the UK, one has been recently been commemorated and five are pending applications for commemoration. Of these fourteen Ossett Fallen, eleven are WWI; three are WW2. Seven of the fourteen are also remembered on the church’s roll of honour and all of them are remembered at the Ossett Memorial in the Market Place.
Consequently 143 Ossett Fallen are remembered at Ossett Holy Trinity Church. The names of all of these men and women were engraved at the Ossett War Memorial in November 2018.
The St. Mary’s Church Gawthorpe and Chickenley WWI and WW2 Rolls of Honour are now located at Holy Trinity Church, Ossett. The St Mary’s Rolls of Honour records 39 Ossett men who lost their lives and the (would be) WW2 Roll records 14 Ossett men who lost their lives in WW2
The 53 WW1 & WW2 St. Mary’s Ossett Fallen are now remembered at Holy Trinity alongside Trinity’s “own” 143 Ossett Fallen. In total 196 Ossett Fallen are now remembered at Holy Trinity – almost 50% of the whole Ossett Fallen.
Above: Holy Trinity WW2 Rol lof Honour with a list of names.
The Wesleyan Chapel on Wesley Street Ossett was built between 1866 and 1868 and demolished in 1961. No trace of the original Roll of Honour has been found, but it is known that it honoured the names of 23 Ossett men who lost their lives in WW1. Three of these men, Clifford Ibbotson, Herbert Boocock and Bernard Clayton are not included on the 1928 Unveiling and Dedication Programme for the unveiling of the Ossett War Memorial. All of these men are now remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
The Dedication and Unveiling of the Wesleyan Chapel War Memorial Window and Tablet (below) took place on Monday evening November 14th 1921. The Tablet, in alabaster and marble, was designed and executed by Messrs. W.H. Fraley & Sons Ltd Birmingham. Two private windows were dedicated on the same occasion.
The Ossett Congregational Chapel on The Green was the third chapel to be built on the site at the junction of The Green and Southdale Road. The last was the finest, built in 1883, the Chapel was demolished in 1973. No trace of the original Roll of Honour has been found, but it is known that it contained the names of 15 Ossett men who lost their lives in WW1, including the name of one man, William Dews whose name is not included on the 1928 Unveiling and Dedication Programme for the unveiling of the Ossett War Memorial. The full list of the Congregational Church’s men who died in WW1 can be downloaded on the Roll of Honour database
The Gawthorpe & Flushdyke Congregational Church, also known as Bethel Chapel, stood at the junction of the Wakefield/Dewsbury Road and Spring Mill Lane, Flushdyke. The Chapel was built in 1864 and was subsequently demolished. No trace of the original Roll of Honour has been found but it is known that it contained the names of seven Ossett men who lost their lives in WW1, including the names of two men, Walter Chappel and William Midgely whose names are not included on the 1928 Programme for the Unveiling & Dedication of the Ossett War Memorial (OWM)in 1928. These seven men are now remembered by their names on the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place. The full list of the Congregational Church’s men who died in WW1 can be seen on the Roll of Honour database.
The Ossett Central Baptist Church developed from the Baptist Church at South Ossett and was built on Church Street by 1898. The Baptist Church had a Roll of Honour which contained the names of 14 men who died in WW1, including two men, Fred Ward and William Tomlinson not included on the 1928 Programme for the Unveiling and Dedication of the Ossett War Memorial (OWM). These fourteen men are now remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Opposite: Ossett Central Baptist Church Roll of Honour (courtesy of Richard D. Glover)
The South Ossett First Baptist Church, the mother church for Ossett Baptists, was built on Baptist Lane, South Ossett in 1868 having replaced an earlier furnished barn which was rented for the purpose of worship. The Church was demolished in the 1970s. It is not known if the Church had a Roll of Honour but a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Memorial Headstone for Edgar Audsley stood in the Burial Ground to remember his loss in WWI. When the Baptist Lane Burial Ground was desecrated in 2002, the headstone was replaced, at the request of his family, by a CWGC Headstone erected at Stonefell Cemetery, Harrogate. Edgar Audsley is remembered by his name at the Ossett Memorial in the Market Place.
A second man, Thomas Harold Graham, died in service in France and is commemorated there by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Thomas was also remembered on his grandfather, Benjamin Graham’s memorial at the now destroyed Baptist Lane Graveyard. Thomas was not born in Ossett and nor did he ever live here but appropriately this brave man is remembered on Memorials at his home towns of Dewsbury, Earlsheaton and Scarborough.
The United Methodist Church on Dale Street was built in 1857 and converted to apartments in the late 21st Century. The UMC Roll of Honour includes the names of men of the UMC congregation who served in WW1. At the head of the Roll are the names of 8 men of the UMC congregation who were killed in the conflict; these men are Ossett Fallen and are remembered by their names at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Above: The UMC Roll of Honour located in the War Memorial Community Centre, Prospect Road.
10. Ossett Grammar School (OGS)
Great credit is due to Ossett Academy, formerly Ossett Grammar School, for perpetuating the memories of those pupils of the school who died in WWI and WWII. The first School War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated on the 10th November, 1951, by the Lord Bishop of Wakefield. The memorial fund realised £280. A grand piano was purchased and two bronze tablets, on which were inscribed the names of those members of the school who gave their lives in the two world wars, and these were placed in the Assembly Hall.
Above: The two plaques dedicated to the Ossett Grammar School pupils who died in WW1 and WW2.
Left: Ossett Academy War Memorial Plaque 2014
The WWI Memorial honours 12 young men, all former pupils of the school who lost their lives. Seven of those men were born or lived in Ossett and five lived or were born in Horbury, Middlestown & Netherton.
The WWII Memorial honours 20 young men, all former pupils who lost their lives. Ten of those men were born or lived in Ossett.
The seventeen names of former pupils who died in WWI & WW2 and who lived or were born in Ossett are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Thanks to recent research a former pupil, Thomas Harold Graham, of Dewsbury and Earlsheaton, died in WWI and is to be remembered by the Academy.
The Ossett Conservative Club Roll of Honour records the name rank and regiment of the members of the Club who served in WWI. The Roll once graced the walls of Ossett Library which until 2016 stood on Station Road, Ossett. The Roll is in the possession of the WMDC Library Service. The Ossett men who died in WWI are remembered by their names at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Sunday School Sickness Societies were often established as Friendly Societies to provide financial benefits for their subscribing members in times when they may suffer illness which caused them to be unable to continue in employment. Benefit payments may also be made to the next of kin in circumstances where a member may have died. The following members of the Society died serving their country in WWI and are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Seven Healey men were recorded on the Mission Memorial, dedicated in 1920. A further three men (William Newsome, James Ryan and Clifford Spedding) who lost their lives in WWI and who were born, or lived, at Healey have also been located. It is likely that these three men were not included because the families had moved away from Healey sometime before 1914 and may not have been contactable by those people responsible for the composition of the names on the Mission Memorial. All of these men, including those three not record on the Mission Memorial are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
The Roll of Honour of the Liberal Club records the names of 39 Club members who served in WW1. Eleven of those men failed to return home and these men are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place. The Roll of Honour is currently (2021) in the possession of the Ossett Historical Society.
This Roll of Honour, which is now located in Ossett Town Hall, records the names of employees of Ossett Roundwood Collieries who served in the Great War 1914-1919. Many of the men were born and/or lived in Ossett but many were from beyond the Ossett boundary. The Roll of Honour includes photographs of many of the men who lost their lives in WW1 and all of those Ossett men are remembered at the Ossett Memorial in the Market Place.
St Ignatius’ Catholic Parish in Ossett and Horbury is located on Storrs Hill Road, Ossett and is part of the Diocese of Leeds. A chapel was first opened in Ossett in December 1877 as a Jesuit mission from Wakefield. The Jesuits continued to run the parish until 1910 when Diocesan priests continued the work. The present church was opened in July 1933 and consecrated in 1978. The parish includes the towns of Ossett and Horbury, Horbury Bridge, and the villages of Middlestown, Netherton and Overton.
The Memorial records the names of five men who fell in WWI. Four of whom were men of Ossett: the fifth, Willie Bennett, was from Horbury. The two men who lost their lives in WWII were both from Horbury. The names of the four Ossett men who died in WWI are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
This Roll of Honour is currently (2018) in the possession of Ossett Town Hall. The men honoured by this Roll of Honour and who died in service in WWI are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place.
Above: Ossett Corporation WW1 Roll of Honour
The rapid growth of population in Gawthorpe at the end of the 19th century led to the creation, in 1901, of a third parish in Ossett. It was technically designated a “consolidated chapelry”, bearing the name Gawthorpe with Chickenley Heath, combining portions taken from the older parishes of Ossett, Earlsheaton and Hanging Heaton. The church of Gawthorpe St Mary the Virgin was built in 1899 to serve the new parish.
Gawthorpe St. Mary’s Church was located close to the western boundary of Ossett, between Chickenley Heath and Ossett Streetside. The church closed in 2001, largely because of diminishing congregations and a new road layout making access difficult for pedestrians. The Gawthorpe parishioners were transferred to Holy Trinity Church, Ossett, whilst Chickenley parishioners were transferred to a new church in Dewsbury.
In 2007 planning permission was granted to convert the old church into a modern apartment block, but because of the state of the housing market at the time, this was deferred and the church stood empty for four more years. The fine old church, complete with the organ was eventually demolished in January 2011 to make way for residential housing.
The Church’s WWI Roll of Honour remembers 41 men who died in WWI and 39 of these men were from Ossett and are remembered at the Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place. St Mary’s Church roll of honour was rescued before the demolition of the church and is now located in Ossett Holy Trinity Church. The Roll of Honour for those men who fell in WWI is shown below. None of these men appear on Holy Trinity’s own Roll of Honour.
There was a proposal for Gawthorpe St. Mary’s Church to erect a similar Roll of Honour for those men lost in WWII. The vicar who made the proposal moved to another church and it did not come to fruition. However, shown below is a record of the sixteen names which would have been included. Fourteen of these men (Jack Brookes & Clifford Tudor were of Chickenley) are Ossett Fallen and are remembered at The Ossett War Memorial in the Market Place. None of these men were included on the Holy Trinity WW2 Roll of Honour.
St John’s Methodist Church at South Parade was built in 1908 to replace the earlier 1846 Chapel built on the adjacent Wesleyan Burial Ground. In May 2020 it was announced that the Church itself, built in 1908, would be sold for alternative use; the sale would exclude the Burial Ground which would continue to be maintained by the Wesleyan Circuit. A planning application was submitted in December 2020.
In early 2021 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission removed their “special” headstone which was erected at St. John’s in July 1986. The special headstone (see below) commemorated the lives of seven Ossett Fallen who are buried in this Burial Ground; four died in WWI and three in WW2. Two of the three WW2 Ossett Fallen also have their own CWGC headstone mounted on their graves at St. John’s. The CWGC special headstone stood close to the church and it was hoped that it might be moved to another location in the Burial Ground but this turned out not to be possible. The current intention of CWGC is to replace the “special CWGC headstone” with individual CWGC headstones assuming that the descendants of the remaining five men give their consent. The CWGC have approved a CWGC headstone to be mounted on the grave of Sapper A.M. Buckett.
In addition to the above the Church also displayed a plaque mounted in the church which remembers eleven men who died in service in WWI. All eleven died overseas. In spring/summer 2021 the WWI plaque was gifted for safe keeping to the Ossett War Memorial Community Centre on Prospect Road, Ossett. It is currently displayed in the Well being Garden at the rear of the Centre officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Wakefield on Sunday 3rd October 2021.
In addition to the seven Ossett Fallen on the special CWGC headstone who are buried and the eleven on the WWI Plaque another 21 Ossett men are remembered on family memorials in the Burial Ground. All of these men are remembered by their names at the Ossett Memorial in the Market Place.
This ends the remarkable story of Ossett’s 19 Memorials and Rolls of Honour in memory of the men and women who lost their lives in two world wars. It is a symbolic outpouring of grief,sadness, gratitude and pride which speaks volumes for this town. Even now this generation, and, I don’t doubt, the next generation will remember the sacrifice made by these brave brothers and sisters in arms; The Ossett Fallen.
Alan Howe updated for https://ossettheritage.co.uk October 2021
